


Strange World

by TsingaDark



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, Haunted Houses, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 22:18:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10397433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsingaDark/pseuds/TsingaDark
Summary: Dan's haunted house experience turns out a lot differently than he'd imagined.or the one where you feel warm once you've touched your soulmate.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shamrock_girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shamrock_girl/gifts).



> this is a kind of belated one-month anniversay gift for my girlfriend (I'm sorry that all I can write is phan AUs but that's what you're stuck with now xD) because I'm just weird like that (also, I miss you)
> 
> written for [this prompt](http://phanfic.tumblr.com/post/156707251217)

Dan thinks that the world is a strange place sometimes. There’s so many things that no one knows how to explain or where they originated from and those things still form the base of society. Of course, seeing as this whole soulmate business applies to basically everyone - apart from a few exceptions that everyone refuses to talk about - it’s not that surprising. 

It’s weird to think about an alternate universe where the idea of soulmates mightn't even exist, because all Dan’s life is build around is the notion that there is someone out there for him who’s basically made for him. Despite learning about soulmates through his parents and school, it’s still difficult to imagine that - a person who will accept Dan the way he is. He doesn’t really understand how anyone would want that since he doesn’t even like himself all that much. 

That’s probably the joy of having a soulmate, Dan muses. Knowing that there’s a person somewhere out there, waiting for him, ready to simply accept and  _ love  _ him, despite him not necessarily having the best opinion of himself. 

It’s something Dan spends a lot of time thinking about. How could he not though, with the way society constantly reminds him of it through magazines, advertising and media in general. There’s not a place where one can escape it, except for maybe some underground bars that mainly aren’t talked about as they’re seen as disgraceful. Everyone’s heard of them though because they’re used as a daunting possibility, of what happens to people who don’t have a soulmate. 

No one really understands why some people don’t get the chance of ever meeting their other half, why they’re denied of that opportunity of finding happiness, of finding  _ warmth _ . Dan never lets himself think about that for a long time, mainly because he can’t stand the thought of never finding love and being forever alone. That prospect scares him a lot.

There was a time when he didn’t care about soulmates all that much, but then he fell in love and got his heart broken. It’d hurt, more than he cares to admit even to himself and it had taken a lot time to get over it. Now though, he tries to focus on the fact that he  _ will  _ find a soulmate and that he  _ will  _ be happy. There’s no other way this can go. At least that’s what he tells himself. 

There’s no way he can spend the rest of his life feeling cold. Because that’s the catch of this whole thing; feeling lonely is an aspect he could probably learn to live with, but without a soulmate that person is doomed to a life without warmth, and Dan’s not sure if he could manage that. Despite having lived with this coldness for 18 years now, he still isn’t used to it. Sometimes he thinks that this is what being dead must feel like - if a dead person could still feel that is - cold from within, like there’s a block of ice right in the centre of his chest. The only way to get it to thaw a tiny bit is to basically bury himself in blankets or clothes but as soon as there aren’t three blankets thrown over himself, he just feels cold again to the point where he thinks he’s never going to know what actual warmth feels like. 

He’s lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling while those thoughts are running through his head. He hasn’t moved for at least half an hour and only gets ripped out of this dream-like state when his phone rather violently vibrates in the front pocket of his jeans. He pulls it out and stares at the display, his eyes needing some time to adjust before he can focus on text message that is displayed there. It’s from PJ, asking if Dan would like to come to the fair with him and a few friends.

Dan’s first instinct is to say no. He’s already coming up with an excuse not to go when he realises that he doesn’t need to. PJ is his friend, for God’s sake, and if anything, Dan needs some distraction now, otherwise he’ll go insane. 

Still, he kind of needs to force himself to reply positively and it’s not even a minute until PJ texts back that he’ll pick Dan up in an hour. It doesn’t take long at all until PJ actually arrives and by the time they’re at the fair, Dan’s properly excited for it. The thing he isn’t thrilled for, however, is the haunted house they’re currently queueing for. 

It’s not even that he’s easily scared - he loves horror films after all. The difference between haunted houses and horror films though, is that Dan isn’t in the latter and is therefore able to detach himself from them, whereas he’s actually living the horror in real time in haunted houses. And that’s something that scares the shit out of him.

To make things worse, PJ’s invited some of his friends that Dan has never met before, and he doesn’t want to be seen as the chicken who gets scared by stupid actors of all things, so he has to stay strong and act like this isn’t a big deal at all. And maybe he also wants to impress Phil, the guy Dan’s been talking to for the last half hour, who’s older than him and is already at university. He’s so much cooler than Dan can ever hope to be and maybe Dan has a little bit of a crush on him already, but that’s probably because every guy who’s Dan’s age is so immature and stupid that he can’t help but to immediately adore every guy that isn’t like that. Also, and that might be an important factor, Phil likes Muse, Dan’s favourite band, and basically every other artist that Dan likes, too. 

Dan’s so immersed in talking to Phil that he doesn’t even notice at first that they’ve arrived at the end of the line. It’s only when Phil nudges his arm, a smile on his lips, that Dan stops talking and sees that they’re being beckoned forwards by one of the staff members of the haunted house. Of course, Dan immediately blushes and berates himself for talking so damn much because there’s no way Phil will find that impressive. Though Dan’s skill of talking for hours on end is actually impressive. Impressively annoying that is. 

Dan trails after the others, keeping close to Phil while trying to not make it obvious that’s what he’s doing. Phil, for his part, is even more excited now that they’re actually going in and doesn’t seem to notice Dan coming closer. 

“This is the best thing ever!” he exclaims and grins at Dan, who can’t help but smile back. Phil’s excitement almost makes him forget how scared he is. Almost. 

“Yeah,” Dan laughs, hoping that Phil can’t hear the nervousness in his voice.

They step inside the house and for the first few rooms everything is fine. It’s not as scary as Dan thought it would be. They lose sight of PJ and the others pretty quickly - how exactly, Dan doesn’t know since they were quite close to them the whole time - and then it’s only Phil and him, and for some reason that makes this whole experience even scarier. 

Being in a group of people averted Phil’s attention away from him for a bit at least, but now that it’s only the two of them, Phil will see exactly how much of a scaredy-cat Dan actually is. And that’s not really something Dan wants.

Though, judging from how tame the scary parts have been so far, Dan slowly but surely thinks himself safe. Maybe this isn’t as bad as he’d thought it’d be. 

Seconds later, Dan realises that that’s exactly what the builders of this haunted house wanted their guests to think. He’s just stepped into a room, Phil for once behind him, when a guy with a chainsaw jumps out of a door to their right and let’s the chainsaw roar. 

Instead of running forwards and out of the room, Dan’s first instinct is to turn around. Of course, since Phil is behind him, this causes him to run head-first into Phil, making them both stumble before Phil manages to regain their balance. 

In all the chaos Dan doesn’t even notice that there’s something amiss at first. The chainsaw is still loudly rattling behind him and Phil’s laughing, probably about how scared Dan reacted. It’s only when he realises that Phil’s hands are on his hip and arm, warm and steadying, that he notices the funny feeling inside his chest. 

At first, he thinks he’s having a heart attack - after all, what else could that weird feeling be? - but when he looks up at Phil, his body trembling from fear, he sees that Phil’s stopped laughing and that his gaze is fixed on his hand on Dan’s arm. There’s something in his eyes that Dan doesn’t know how to decipher. 

“ _ What _ ,” Dan manages to get out, trying to understand what is happening. Phil slowly looks up at him and a smile forms on his lips.

“Dan,” he says softly, and Dan kind of dies a little bit inside. He hadn’t known quite how much he’d like Phil saying his name. 

“Yeah?” The chainsaw stops making noise behind them but Dan doesn’t even notice. He can’t focus on anything other than Phil’s eyes right now.

“ _ Dan _ ,” Phil just repeats and then he’s lifting his hand from where it was resting on Dan’s hips and gently presses it to Dan’s heart. And finally, Dan understands. 

There’s warmth blooming right where Phil’s hand is, but from the  _ inside _ where the ice block used to be that always left behind a constant coldness seeping into his bones. It’s completely thawed and Dan feels so much warmer than he ever has, it’s almost too much, too fast. 

“Are you,” Dan starts to ask, but he doesn’t even know what exactly he’s asking, just that he needs Phil to confirm he’s feeling the same.

“ _ Yes _ ,” Phil breathes and pulls him into a hug. It’s not one bit uncomfortable, even though Phil presses Dan to his chest a bit too much, but Dan doesn’t care because he feels the same; he knows exactly what’s going through Phil’s head because he’s thinking it too. They’ve finally found each other.

Dan doesn’t even know how relieved Phil must be after having waited longer than him but he thinks that it’s okay, that although they’ve only found each other now, they’re going to hold onto this all the more. 

Dan would’ve liked to stay like that forever, just being hold by Phil, but the chainsaw actor soon has enough of them hugging in the doorway and blocking it, so he taps Dan’s shoulder repeatedly until Dan steps out of Phil’s embrace. Phil immediately grabs his hand and they hurry outside, matching grins on their faces as they pass even more actors who try to scare them. Dan isn’t fazed one bit by them, his thoughts only on Phil right there beside him and the warmth in his chest. 

PJ takes one look at them when they finally stumble outside and already knows what’s up. He met his soulmate when they were both eleven, so he understands what it feels like. 

“Congrats!” he exclaims and hugs them both awkwardly, while everyone else simply looks confused as to what’s going on. 

Dan can’t stop smiling, even though he thinks his face might fall off if he keeps it up, but one look at Phil tells him he’s not much better. He’s basically radiating happiness, his hand squeezing Dan’s every few seconds, and he’s generally standing as close to him as possible. 

Maybe the world is a strange place sometimes, Dan muses, especially when it involves soulmates and metaphorical blocks of ice in one’s chest. But it’s also pretty amazing.


End file.
